Latest iOS 9.3 Beta Unbricks iPhones Affected by 'January 1, 1970' Date Bug
The most recent beta of iOS 9.3, provided to developers and public beta testers earlier this week, fixes a bug that caused 64-bit iPhones and iPads to be disabled or "bricked" when the date was set to January 1, 1970.
Discovered in mid-February, the "1970" bug occurs whenever an iOS device's date is manually set to 1970, resulting in a continuous reboot cycle. Speculation has suggested the reboot loop is the result of an integer underflow that causes the iPhone to reset the date to the maximum value, a huge number that iOS devices may be unable to process.
With iOS 9.3 beta 4, the date on the iPhone or iPad can't be set beyond December 31, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. ET, which equates to 1/1/01 at 12:00 a.m. GMT. That effectively puts an end to the 1970 bug, which was used to trick some people into bricking their devices.
The beta also introduces a fix for devices that had been disabled by the bug. As explained on the MacRumors forums, devices stuck in boot loops were able to be restored to working order through a restore using iOS 9.3 beta 4.
This update fixed the 1970 date bug. Had two retail units stuck in boot loops do to some pricks setting the date to 1970 and restoring in DFU mode did not help. But restorting to this BETA update made both devices go back to normal.
Previously, there was no clear fix for devices that had been affected by the bug aside from disconnecting the battery, requiring users to go to the Genius Bar at an Apple retail store or attempt risky self-repairs. Apple promised a fix in an "upcoming software update," which appears to be iOS 9.3.
iOS 9.3 is currently only available to developers and public beta testers, but we may be nearing the end of the beta testing period. Apple has said the software will debut in the spring, and it's likely we will see it launch to the public following the company's rumored March 15 event where it is expected to introduce the iPhone 5se, the iPad Air 3, and new Apple Watch bands.
Popular Stories
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code.
In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak.
As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas.
We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features.
Transfer to Android
Apple is making it simpler...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu.
As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
Apple is preparing to bring support for its Car Keys feature to Toyota vehicles, evidence uncovered by MacRumors suggests.
Toyota introduced its own Digital Key feature as part of the available Remote Connect package several years ago, which allows drivers to use their smartphone as a key to access and drive the vehicle. Now, the company appears to be adding support for Apple Car Keys, with...
